Editorial

48
in this field is
greatly due to
the expertise
and tireless
dedication of Dr. Vassos Karageorghis, his
discoveries at the royal necropolis of Salamis,
Cyprus and his numerous publications. At
present, owing to the intensity of the archaeological
excavations and the frequency of publications,
Cyprus is in the advantageous position
of being the best archeologically recorded
country in the Mediterranean (and I would
also add in the Pontic area).
The soul and spirit of the Swedish expedition
was the renowned archaeologist Einar Gjerstad.
After an exploratory tour in 1923, the
young archaeologist returned to the island
with a team which included Alfred Westholm
and Erik Sjöqvist, also well-known archaeologists,
under the chairmanship of Crown
Prince Gustaf Adolf, later rhe King of Sweden.
Between 1927 and 1931 he carried
out extensive excavations aiming to shed light
Aspect of the exhibition. Female statuette from Vouni, Loures, 450-425 BC.
on the whole Cypriote archaeology covering
the entire period from the preceramic
Neolithic to the Middle Ages. During those
four years, 21 sites spread all over the island
were investigated, some of them having acquired
a well-known status such as Enkomi with the
interesting Mycenaean imported pieces, the
palace of Vouni belonging to the period 500-
380 BC, and Kition the Phoenician city.
Situated between the Kingdoms of the
Near East and Crete, Cyprus was an intermediary
in the movement of objects and ideas,
while the rest of Greece in that "dark age"
Model of a cart, Amathus, 600-480 BC. (left)
Head of a bearded figure, Idalion, 6 th century BC.